Existing mandates, scheduled mandates, as well planned or foreseeable mandates continue to expand the use of communications and clearances via datalink for air traffic control (ATC) of the aircraft. As functionality continues to expand, certification requirements specify there must be minimum human interactions required, such as no or minimal button pushes, and no or minimal heads down time in conjunction with ATC control over datalink.
It is important to reduce crew workload and provide a way of ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the communication. Clearances are becoming more complex and, when added to the complexities of the modern cockpit, it is becoming increasingly important to make access to and use of ATC datalink clearances as simple as clicking the microphone button as done in the traditional voice only cockpit.
Conventional ATC clearance interfaces such as Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) and Air Traffic Services (ATS) require the crew to be heads down looking at a control display unit (CDU) to obtain the clearance information. Based on several existing systems, up to five button push selections are required just to view the displayed clearance. While some systems have used graphical representations in a forward field of view display, access to screens in these systems requires multiple menus to be selected to bring up the desired clearance information.